Smartphones, emails, schedules, phone calls -- how can anyone stop and pay attention to just one thing at a time?

Trying to do so many things at once will likely lead to doing everything yet doing nothing at all. Your stress level will rise and the quality of your work will fall. This results in procrastination when you continue to focus on the small and insignficant tasks in your life rather than acknowledging the major goals that need to be accomplished.

While we may think that we can fit everything in to have it all, it never ends up quite working that way.

Instead, it is important to work on focusing on one task at a time. Stop multi-tasking and give each task your full attention. This will stop your distractions, lower your stress levels, and drive your energy into where it is needed the most. Here are some tricks to help boost your focus.

Drink Water

Even if you become just a little thirsty, your performance can suffer.

Studies have linked struggles with concentration and mental sharpness to even only mild dehydration. This may be because your brain's neurons are able to detect dehydration, triggering the parts of your brain that regulate your mood and other important functions.

Having a drink of cold water can also boost your body into an active mode if you are starting to feel a bit lazy or sleepy. Drink some ice cold water to get a quick boost of energy.

So, how much water do you need to drink? That depends on your diet, lifestyle, and size. If you are active, you need to drink significantly more water than if you are sedentary to replace any fluids that you have lost. The easiest thing to remember is to drink eight glasses of water, but this number may very. If you feel thirsty, certainly drink water.

Consider the Temperature

If you find yourself to be either hot or cold, it might be difficult to focus on your task at hand.

If you are slightly warm, you may become relaxed and drowsy, causing your work to become inefficient. Cooler temperatures, on the other hand, can induce mental stress, which may make it more difficult to stay on task.

The best thing for your focus is to find the temperature that is just right for you so you are not internally complaining about how hot or cold you are.

Focus View

When doing work on the computer, click the icon that leads to the “focus view” setting. This automatically eliminates everything on your screen except for what you are working on. This includes calendar alerts, application notifications, email alerts, and instant messages. This type of single-minded focus will allow you to be more efficient without the distractions.

This is a good tool to use because it puts the job of getting rid of distractions in someone else's hand. You don't have to decide which interruptions you will address and which ones you will ignore because none of them will come through to you.

Set a Timer

Set aside a specific amount of time to work on certain tasks. Use an actual timer to make sure that you stick to your planned working time.

Setting a timer will help you focus by eliminating any distractions that you know are meant to be done outside of the time you have set aside to do your work. If you know that you have a pre-determined amount of time, you will be more likely to stay on task rather than moving around from one distraction to another.

Take a step back before beginning your task and determine how much time you will reasonably need to get it accomplished. Even if you just want to be able to make some progress, turn off all of your distractions and get to work.

Clean Up

Take 15 minutes to clear up the clutter from your working area to help you find more focus.

If you feel that your office is as clean as it will reasonably get, choose a different part of your house such as your junk drawer or car. This cleaning momentum will carry on into your working mindset and keep you motivated to get some things done.

The momentum will actually make you want to accomplish more. Complete a minor cleaning task to get that feeling of satisfaction to get you started.

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